Comparison Security Suite

Mehacomp_91

Assalamualaikum
Kat mana boleh meha dapat tengok comparison Security Suite yg latest ni meha kalau boleh nak tengok com parison Security suite 2007 dan 2008.Bagi sesiapa tahu kat mana nak cek kasi la link sekali ya nak lagi best comparison tu ada bagi tahu Pros dan Cons

Thanks in Advance

kmkd

[wartawan]: nampaknya duta avira amat berharap ranking aviranya naik dari yang lepas..
[wartawan]: meha, apakah yang anda harapkan dari ranking yang terbaru tersebut? adakah kejatuhan kaspersky atau kenaikkan mendadak avira?

Mehacomp_91

[Meha]:Sebenarnya saya ingin melihat perkembangan Security suite tahun ini dan tahun depan utk rujukan saya dan customer serta forumer kat cari ni.Tentang Avira dengan Kaspersky tu No comment

kmkd

[wartawan]: nampaknya meha mengambil jalan tengah dan selamat, tidak mahu memberi sebarang comment. mungkin takut ada pihak yang akan tersingung. terima kasih meha.. kembali ke studio

Mehacomp_91

no comment :re:

Mehacomp_91

Anyone

Mehacomp_91

Ok hari ini meha ada dapat 5 comparison security suite yang boleh dijadikan panduan pengguna ok mula2

BitDefender Total Security 2008

SoftWin                                                                                                         http://www.bitdefender.com                                                                                                                                                                                                         Price As Tested: $79.95 Direct Type: Business, Personal, Professional Free: No OS Compatibility: Windows Vista, Windows XP Notes: Price covers three installations over two years		Evenwithout the new backup (strong) and tune-up (weak) modules, this year'ssuite beats its predecessor, especially in the antispam and antispywareareas. And the new interface shows that BitDefender is going after thewhole market, not just the techies.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Goodprotection against viruses and spyware. Accurate content-based spamfiltering, backed by whitelist. Now includes backup and performancetune-up modules.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Newtune-up features are weak. Registry Cleaner is uninformative. DuplicateFinder can be dangerous. Firewall lacks an advanced program control.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           $79.95
By Neil J. Rubenking                                                 BitDefendervows to "secure your every bit," and BitDefender Total Security 2008works hard to keep that promise. It includes the essential firewall,antivirus, and antispyware modules as well spam protection and parentalcontrol. This version adds a backup module and system tune-up tools,putting it head-to-head with Symantec's Norton 360 and Microsoft'sWindows Live OneCare. A completely new user interface makes the productmuch easier to use, even for those without an advanced degree incomputer security. The price looks a little high, but it covers threeinstallations for two years: Most suite prices cover just one year. And you get unlimited 24/7 tech support by phone, e-mail, or live chat.

BD 2008's user interface is a major departure from the stark high-techlook of past versions. Like Norton 360, its main display consists offour big panes that report status in different areas: Parental Control,Security, Backup, and Tune-up. As with Norton 360 or Norton InternetSecurity 2007, you can click on a single button to fix all issues thatprevent the system from showing green lights across the board.

Venerated Virus Protection
With its hourly updates, the antivirus grabs new signatures as fast asthe BitDefender research labs can create them. It won Virus Bulletin'sVB100% award in the most recent test series, as it has for the lastseveral years. Both ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs certify it for virusdetection and removal, and West Coast Labs further gives it checkmarkcertification for Trojan-horse and spyware detection. It has also beencertified by AV-Comparatives.org, CheckVir, and others. If this suitewere in the military, its uniform would be bristling with medals.
Virus and spyware scanning are completely integrated in this version,and a full scan for both on my standard clean system took about 24minutes. That's comparable with Spy Sweeper and a bit faster than Norton Internet Security (NIS) 2007 or Zone-Alarm Internet Security 7.By default, the installer configures a scheduled full scan at 2 a.m.every day, but you can choose to schedule any predefined oruser-defined scan to run at intervals from minutes to years. Okay, mostpeople won't schedule scans minutes or years apart, but it's certainlya flexible system.
In addition to the product's on-demand and scheduled scanning,real-time protection scans all files when accessed and all incoming andoutgoing e-mail messages. By default, BD's first action on finding athreat is to disinfect it, meaning that BD will attempt to remove thevirus. If that fails (as it will for non-virus malware), BD simplysuppresses the file, preventing it from running. I find that secondaction a little worrisome: The problem file is still present, and, ifBD stopped working, the file conceivably could still run. My own choicewould be to quarantine a file that can't be disinfected. Fortunately,configuring BD so it does exactly that is easy enough, but setting thisas the default would have been better.

Mehacomp_91

ok sambungannya

SuperSpyware Recognition

The suite's performance against spyware hasimproved quite a bit since last year. BD 2008 now performs a preinstall scan towipe out in-memory spyware and other blatant threats. If there's any probleminstalling on an unstable malware-infested system, the installer directs you toan online scan-and-clean tool. The main installer won't run in Safe Mode, butthe online scan tool will, and after installation it includes a Safe Modescanner.
These new installation features really helped when I went to install BD 2008 onmy standard malware-infested systems. Two pieces of malware in particular causetrouble for almost every security product. On one system the malware interfereswith the installation of security products梙ere, the online scan vanquishedthat problem and let me finish installation. Another test system goes into ablue-screen reboot loop if the antispyware product doesn't completely clean itup on the first try. I broke out of the loop into Safe Mode and ran a scan thatfixed the problem. Good show!
On every test system, the scan ended up with a list of items that needed myattention. I manually chose to Quarantine those items. That wasn't alwayssuccessful, so for any item couldn't be quarantined, I manually selectedDelete. But in all but a couple cases, some files remained that it justcouldn't handle. Rescanning in Safe Mode fixed those. BD 2008 recognized allbut one from my collection of malware threats, including adware, spyware, rogueantispyware, Trojans, and rootkits. And it cleaned out almost all of theones it recognized. I did find that it frequently removed the core executableswhile leaving behind a litter of data files and Registry items, but I give fullcredit if all the executables are gone. On that basis, BD 2008 scored arespectable 8.6 out of 10梣uite close to the scores attained by Spy Sweeper(9.0) and Spyware Doctor (9.1). On a separate test usingcommercial keyloggers, BD 2008 got 7.1 out of 10梐 passable score.
In a perfect world you'd need that full cleanup only once. Forever after, yourantispyware software's Gardol Shield would prevent nasty malware from getting afoothold on the system. But how effective is BD 2008's shield? I tested itsability to keep the same malware samples from installing on a clean testsystem. Here again, it recognized all but one of the samples and prevented mostof them from installing, scoring 8.8 out of 10. That's better than SpySweeper's score of 8.1 on the same test, but not up to Spyware Doctor's amazingscore of 9.8. BD 2008, with a score of 4.3, wasn't nearly as effective atpreventing the installation of commercial keyloggers. But this isn't a bigproblem. If an industrial spy invades your office to install a commercialkeylogger, she'll be able to turn spyware protection off anyhow.
BD 2008's real-time protection is so watchful that you can't even delete a fileit identifies as malware: It allows no access at all. It blocked over half thespyware samples as soon as I clicked on them. To further challenge the program,I repeated the test using modified versions of the samples. That is, I renamedthem, changed some nonexecutable bytes, and appended null bytes to change thesize. It caught all but one of the modified versions just as quickly, whichshows that its spyware signatures are flexible.

BasicFirewall Gets Tough
TheBitDefender firewall has improved since last year. As before, the firewallsuccessfully stealthed all ports. When I tested this feature using Web-basedport scan tools, it correctly reported a port-scan attack. Its program controlfeature preconfigures access for 900-odd known programs. That's not a lotcompared with the 40,000-odd programs whitelisted by ZoneAlarm's "SmartDefenseAdvisor" database, but BitDefender actually lists all the programs. Igriped last year that the list was unsorted; now it's in alphabetical order andalso includes a handy search feature. I guess I was the squeaky wheel.
When you connect to a new network, the firewall takes note and asks whether toput the network in the Trusted or Untrusted zone梕ach zone has differentfirewall rules. It specifically detects unsecured wireless networks and putsthem in the Untrusted zone. Just being connected to an unsecured wirelessnetwork is treated as a security issue, something to be fixed. If you want thatgreen check mark for your own wireless connection, you'll just have to enablesecurity on your wireless router. BD 2008 will alert you when a new computerconnects to the network. If you didn't make that connection, better figure outwho did!
The confirmation pop-up when the firewall detects an unknown program requestingInternet access for the first time is significantly less threatening than inprevious versions. Whereas it used to baffle the user with eight differentchoices, it now just asks whether to Allow or Deny access. If the program got aclean bill of health from the antivirus, BD recommends that you allow access.That's not quite as helpful as NIS 2007, which takes full responsibility formaking the allow/deny decision itself. But it's a step in the right direction.
The firewallstill doesn't attempt that higher level of program control needed to blockprograms that get around normal program control by trickery. But when I ran acollection of "leak test" programs that demonstrate these techniques,the antivirus blocked two-thirds of them. It even identified the more modernones as being of type "Demo.Leaktest."
I gripedthat the previous suite's firewall offered flimsy protection against directattack. A malicious program could disable the firewall by killing itsprocesses, terminating its services, or even by modifying a simple text fileand forcing a reboot. Those text files aren't vulnerable any more: Trying tochange them gets "Access denied." Attempting to kill the firewall'sprocesses using Task Manager will hit that same brick wall, and you can't stopits essential services. Even so, I was able to halt its protection byreconfiguring those services and forcing a reboot, which is something amalicious process could definitely do. Even so, BitDefender has madesubstantial progress in its defense against direct attacks.
This version adds a new Game Mode for the firewall.In this mode, all pop-ups and alerts are disabled, and automatic updates aresuppressed. In addition, all network traffic that isn't explicitly blocked by afirewall rule is allowed. You still get silent protection against maliciousprograms, but a network-based exploit could conceivably slip through. The Helpsays "This policy is strongly discouraged"梑ut it's stillsignificantly better than turning off all protection to avoid interruptions inonline gaming.

Mehacomp_91

Smash That Spam

BD 2008 uses a variety of techniques to keep spam out of your inbox and valid mail out of the spam dump. Its NeuNet filter analyzes message content to identify spam. A Bayesian learning engine analyzes messages that you mark as spam or not spam (along with your outgoing mail) to fine-tune spam detection. The suite also optionally blocks mail written in Asian or Cyrillic characters. It can automatically import your address book into a whitelist so that messages from your known correspondents never get blocked. Finally, people you send mail to get whitelisted automatically. If all these sources of information indicate that a message is spam, it marks the message by adding information to the header and inserting [spam] or [phishing] in the subject line.
The spam filter integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, or Thunderbird. It adds a toolbar with handy buttons for marking a message as spam or not spam, for managing the whitelist and blacklist, and for maintaining settings. By default, it moves spam messages directly to the Deleted Items folder. That seems a bit extreme to me. I recommend manually creating a rule to send those messages to a Spam folder instead, so that you can review them as necessary before deletion. This would make a nice default for the next iteration of the suite.
On BitDefender's recommendation, I trained the spam filter with over 100 verified spam messages and almost as many valid messages. Then I let the filter process a couple thousand messages from a spam-infested real-world e-mail account. Or rather, I tried to. Outlook repeatedly gagged at certain points when receiving messages. I verified that this problem specifically involved the spam filter梩he exact same collection of messages (left on the server) came through just fine with spam filtering turned off. Experts at BitDefender narrowed down the problem area but couldn't duplicate it in-house. Fortunately, I found that by using Outlook Express instead I could continue testing. The filter still halted on the problem messages, but I could restart the download process and continue receiving mail.
Once I got past that initial trouble, the spam filter proved highly effective梞uch better than in last year's test. Out of nearly 2,000 messages, it did not block a single valid message from an individual. It did block one newsletter-type message and two short e-mail杔ist postings that happened to have Chinese characters in the signature (by default, the filter blocks messages with Asian characters). Even counting these, it blocked less than 0.5 percent of valid mail; it also let about 22 percent of the undeniable spam into the Inbox. That's a good performance, right up there with ZAISS7. On a similar test earlier this year, ZAISS7 blocked about 3 percent of valid messages and let 19 percent of spam into the Inbox. I just wish we had been able to solve the Outlook problem.

Keep Those Kids In Line!

The biggest change for parental control since last year is emphasis: Parental control now occupies one of the four places of honor on the program's new streamlined main window. Settings are still configurable on a per-user basis, which is good. Specifically, they're tied to Windows user accounts. Changes that used to be delayed until the user logged out and in again now take effect immediately. Parental control blocks sites that are on BitDefender's blacklist, with an option to add your own bad sites or define exceptions. You can use a smart heuristic filter to block sites that have content inappropriate for a child or teenager. You can block every Web page that contains any of a user-specified set of keywords. There's still an option to define a weekly schedule of allowed Web access times in one-hour increments. And if you wish, you can lock specific programs so that kids can't launch them, copy them, rename them, or use them in any way.
I was surprised at one change. The heuristic filter no longer lets you pick and choose from different categories of inappropriate sites: All you can do is choose Child, Teenager, or Adult; there are no separate filters for phishing, gambling, hacking, proxy, adult, drugs, sexuality, or warez. My BitDefender contact explained that there's a lot of overlap between the categories and that the heuristic filter is more effective when trained on fewer different categories.
When the filter blocks access to a site, it now spells out the reason. That's good; previously you couldn't distinguish time-limit blocking from content-based blocking. And the product now keeps a log of pages blocked by parental control, or at least, it tries to. I turned on Web blocking and heuristic blocking at the Teenager level for a specific user account. Then I logged in as that user and tried to visit Playboy.com, Penthouse.com, FHM.com, and a handful of other "adult" sites. The parental-control filters blocked them all, but fewer than half appeared in the log. I can't explain it, but I could duplicate it without trouble. Perhaps I tried too many URLs in too short a time? Whatever the case, the logging feature needs work; I wouldn't rely on it as is.
As always, the parental-control system is browser independent: It works in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, even in a tiny browser that I wrote myself for testing. It's also tough; I didn't find any way to break through its control. Of course you'll want to protect your BitDefender settings using a password the kids couldn't possibly guess.

Keep Private Stuff Private

BD 2008's privacy control is a mixed bag. It starts with the expected protection against sending out specified private information via Web forms or SMTP-based e-mail. Once entered, your private data is stored in encrypted from, not visible even to you. You can edit the settings for a given privacy rule, but you'll have to re-enter the data completely. There's no per-user configuration here, so you can't use it to keep just your kids from sending out the home address or phone. Nor will it keep them from sharing your home phone with a new chat friend, since it doesn't filter IM traffic.
You can define a list of privacy-control exceptions (Web sites or e-mail addresses that are allowed to receive your private data). The exception list is global rather than site-specific, but it's still helpful. That's not a real problem if you type your eBay password at PayPal or vice versa. But if you type either at a fraudulent site, BD 2008 will block access.
Speaking of fraudulent sites, this version adds antiphishing protection for Internet Explorer users. I tested it using a collection of recent real-world phishing e-mails and fresh results from sites that track phishing. For comparison, I checked each alleged fraudulent site using BD 2008's protection, Norton Internet Security 2007, and the antiphishing support built into IE7 and Firefox 2. These sites disappear fast, so if any of the four couldn't make a connection, I discarded the sample. And if none of them identified it as fraudulent, again I discarded it. I wound up with about five dozen valid samples. NIS blocked about 90 percent of them, Firefox and IE alone about 80 percent, and BD 2008 blocked just a little over 40 percent. I won't be impressed until it can do better than what's built into the browser!
BitDefender shows its techno-geek roots in some of the other privacy features. Besides the identity control mentioned above, it offers Registry, cookie, and script control. These ask for your permission when a program tries to add itself to the start-up sequence in the Registry or when a Web site tries to set a cookie on your system or run a script. Tons of valid Web sites use cookies and scripts, so these two are turned off by default; most users should leave them that way. There's also a System Info tab that offers details about a dozen-plus system areas梐mong them programs launched at start-up, file associations, and winsock providers. You can drill into these and, where appropriate, change them. But here again most users should leave well enough alone.

[ Last edited by  Mehacomp_91 at 1-10-2007 11:09 AM ]

Mehacomp_91

Full-FeaturedLocal Backup
One big newfeature in the 2008 suite is a full backup utility. The backup wizard makes itsimple. You can choose to back up a set of common data-file locations, anyuser-defined location, or the entire disk. Put the backup data on a localdrive, a network drive, a USB-connected drive, or writable CD/DVD. Set a dailyor weekly schedule. That's all there is to making sure that your essential datagets backed up. The restore wizard is equally simple.
The wizards make backup and restore simple, but if you launch the fullBitDefender Backup tool, you'll see that it's actually a full-featured backupsystem under the hood. You can configure and schedule any number of backupjobs. You can restore any or all files to their original locations or to a newlocation of your choice, and choose what should happen when a restored file isalready present. If you prefer, you can also restore all backed-up files to aspecific point in time.
By default the app makes incremental backups, meaning it will only back up afile that has changed since the last backup. This keeps down the amount ofspace required; there's also an option to compress and encrypt backup files.If, despite your efforts, the backup destination fills up, you can specify asecondary location to "span" the data. Other options include runninga specific program before or after the backup job and breaking up the backupset into multiple files of a specified size. This is one powerful backupsystem. About the only thing it lacks is an option to use a remote onlinebackup destination, like that offered with Norton 360.

Tepid Tune-up
Tuning up the system to improve performance isn't a required element for asecurity product, but it has begun showing up in some of them. Microsoft'sOneCare started the trend, and Norton 360 also offers it. Clearly, BitDefenderwanted to get a check mark in the Tune-up column of any features table, butjust as clearly, this is version 1.0. If you want that green"Protected" indicator on the main screen, you'll have to run all fourtune-up utilities, but you'll get the green even if you don't let them make anychanges. The tune-up panel will turn yellow and then red if you don't repeatthese actions every so often; BitDefender plans to add a scheduler.
The first couple of modules didn't wow me. Clean Temporary Internet Files: Runthis and it deletes all cookies and temporary files for Internet Explorer. Ofcourse, IE7 and Firefox 2 both have a built-in feature to delete personal datathat goes further than just temp files and cookies. Disk Defragmenter checksall your local disks for fragmentation and offers to defragment those that needit. But all modern Windows versions include their own defrag utility. These twodon't really add much.
The Duplicate Finder is a more interesting utility. It scans whichever foldersyou select and identifies files with identical content, regardless of thefilename. The surprisingly fast scan then lists all groups of identical files;the list appears to be ordered from smallest to largest. By default it marksall but the newest of each group for deletion, but you can choose to keep theoldest, leave them all, or pick and choose which to delete.
A full scanof drive C: on a little-used test system turned up three dozen duplicategroups. The first group represented all zero-byte files; by definition thoseare identical. But many of these are placeholders like the "MailRecipient.MAPIMail" item in the SendTo folder梖iles whose effect does notdepend on their content. Deleting this group would damage your system. Severalother groups represented templates for creating new files of various types, onefor each user account. Again, deletion would be a mistake. Most of the restrepresented URL shortcuts and program shortcuts that legitimately appear inmultiple locations. The search turned up a mere handful of duplicates梡airs ofidentical data files. And BD 2008 couldn't mark the newest or oldest becausethey had the exact same date/time stamp, so it marked none of those fordeletion.
If you douse the Duplicate Finder, be very, very careful what you let it delete. Startby setting it to "No Action" and then review each group. DuplicateFinder gives you no information beyond the full pathname梟o file size, nodate/time stamp, nothing! So you may want to navigate to the file in WindowsExplorer, or even open it to check the contents. If you stick to data files suchas documents, music, and pictures, you should be safe. Even if you don't deleteany duplicates, you still get credit toward full Tune-up protection.
The lasttune-up utility is the Registry Cleaner, and this one makes me nervous.Registry cleaners claim to speed the system by eliminating unnecessary items inthe Registry and, in some cases, compacting it. But I haven't measured seriousperformance benefits from this type of action, and I've seen that deleting thewrong item can damage the system and even render it unbootable.
BD 2008'sRegistry Cleaner quickly identifies the keys it wants to delete and lists themfor your perusal, but the presentation is dreadful. The list omits the rootportion of key names, so you can't tell whether they appear under HKEY_CURRENT_USER,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or another root key. Although Registry Cleaner says it willdelete Registry keys, what it actually does is delete valueswithin those keys. It doesn't list the value to be deleted, so the list mayinclude dozens of seemingly identical lines for different values within thesame key.
Yes, you cansee the full key name, value name, and value data for a single line by hoveringthe mouse over it, but this isn't a practical way to review the results. Allyou can really do is skip the deletion or blindly proceed and hope that the"Recover Registry" feature can undo changes if a problem results. Andunless you really know what you're doing, such problems are a real possibility,as the app provides you with no guidance to help you make your decision. Nosir, I don't like it.
BitDefenderTotal Security 2008 is a clear improvement over last year's model, even if youjust consider the features present in both. Antispam accuracy is way up, thefirewall is tougher, and BD is more effective against spyware. In addition, younow get a full-featured local backup module as well as a first attempt at aperformance tune-up module, all wrapped in a completely updated, friendly userinterface. If you have an allergy to Norton and ZoneAlarm, this is a worthwhilealternative



Sub-Ratings:
Antivirus:
Antispam:
Antispyware:
Firewall:
Parental/Privacy:
file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/HOME/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image004.gif

Mehacomp_91

                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                Thespam filter is mediocre, and the parental control is clearly a firstattempt, but Kaspersky Internet Security 7 gives you a tough-as-nailsfirewall and virus/spyware protection that should keep out anymalicious software. One catch: You have to tweak the configurationsignificantly to get this full protection.
                                       
                                                                                                                               
                                                Excellentat keeping malware out of a clean system. Very effective at cleaning upmalware-infested systems. Firewall resists direct attack. Parentalcontrol is now included.
                                       
                                                                                                                               
                                                Fullprotection requires numerous changes from default configuration. Spamprotection is unimpressive. New parental-control feature is stillrough-edged. Firewall's program control is turned off by default.



                               
                                                                        Kaspersky Labs
                                                                                                        http://www.kaspersky.com
                                                                                               
                                                                       
                                Type: Business, Personal, Enterprise, Professional Free: No
OS Compatibility: Windows Vista, Windows XP
Tech Support: Phone, email, live chat

Kaspersky Lab's eponymous founder, Eugene Kaspersky, still toils awayat analyzing threats, and his ex-wife, Natalya Kaspersky, is thecompany's CEO. How rare is that? Has anybody seen Peter Norton lately?How about Mr. McAfee, or Mr. Panda? A touch of personal pride maypartly explain Kaspersky's success in the security world. Its latestsuite, Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0, rounds out its securityprotection by adding parental control to the existing firewall,antivirus, antispyware, and spam protection.

Like most modern suites, KIS7's main window reflects the overall systemstatus and offers quick access to the individual protection modules.Rather than using a big red, yellow, or green icon for overall status,it applies a red, yellow, or green tint to the logo bar at top. Fromthe main screen, you can configure protection, trigger a scan, checkfor updates, view reports, and get help.

Vaporizing VirusesKaspersky AntiVirus, a major player in Europe and Russia, is gainingmindshare in the U.S. ZoneLabs has licensed Kaspersky's engine for thevirus and spyware protection in its latest ZoneAlarm suite. And KAVrates well with the independent labs. Both ICSA Labs and West CoastLabs certify it for virus detection and removal; West Coast Labs alsogives it checkmark certification for detecting Trojan horses andspyware. The most recent on-demand test from AV Comparatives gave itthe top rating, "ADVANCED+". For four years it hasn't once missedgetting the VB 100% award from Virus Bulletin. Until the most recenttest in June, that is.

So what happened with the VB 100% test? According to Kaspersky, KAVmissed getting 100% by failing to detect exactly one threat, a threatwhose signature had been pulled for additional analysis just at thetime of the test. The company hastened to point out that KAV's activedefense managed to detect and reverse the worm's malicious actions evenwithout identifying it by name. That sounds reasonable, I guess, aslong as it doesn't happen again.

The antivirus scans files on access, on demand, or on schedule: Youcan schedule scans at any interval, from minutes to months. Mostantivirus products that offer e-mail protection just scan the POP3 andSMTP e-mail streams; KIS7 also scrutinizes IMAP e-mail and NNTP(newsgroup) traffic. Four types of on-demand scanning arepreconfigured, from a full scan of the entire computer down to arootkit-only scan. You can adjust the configuration of the built-inscans or add and schedule your own custom scan types.

Smashing Spyware
I installed KIS7 on systems infested with my standard collection ofmalware threats including adware, spyware, Trojans, rootkits, and rogueantispyware programs. The worse the threats, the more effectively itremoved them: It whacked all the Trojans and rootkits, missed somespyware and adware, and totally ignored the rogue antispyware samples.Kaspersky tech support verified that by default, the product doesn'tremove the least virulent problems (it categorizes them as "riskware").I enabled riskware removal, set the scanning security level to maximum,and repeated my tests. This time it did much better, scoring 8.6 out of10, not far behind Spy Sweeper (9.0) and Spyware Doctor(9.1). It scored a less impressive 5.7 against my commercial keyloggersamples. Embarrassingly, several samples that it recognized and triedto remove were almost completely unaffected; they continued blithelylogging keys and other system information. As always, however, I don'tgive as much weight to removal of these commercial monitoring programs.
I chose the option to prompt for actions on completion of the scan,thinking I'd get a list of found threats and a chance to determinetheir fate. That's what most scanners do. Instead, KIS7 displayed apop-up for each threat asking what to do with it. Kaspersky techniciansconfirmed that's how the program is supposed to work, but I don't likeit. I want to be able to deal with all the problems on one screen. And,wow, the program's default response to a serious threat includes anaudible notification that sounds like a pig being tortured. Kasperskyreally ought to give the user an option to choose a different sound梐tthe very least, it would be kind to reviewers who're testing theremoval of serious threats on a dozen or so virtual machines at thesame time.
On several test systems, the program detected malware in memoryimmediately after installation and asked for permission to run aspecial disinfection scan. At the end of the scan, it rebooted thesystem. Bam! No warning, other than a note in the initial requestsuggesting that you close all other programs. On the other hand, aftera full scan detected threats that required a reboot for full removal,it didn't even offer a reminder to reboot. Guys, get it right! Do offer to reboot when it's necessary, and do give the user a chance to shut things down cleanly first.

Next, I tried throwing the same collection of malware samples at aclean system protected by KIS7. As with the removal testing, my initialresults weren't so great: It scored 7.6 against spyware and 4.3 againstcommercial keyloggers. I checked in with my Kaspersky contact andreceived a veritable laundry list of settings to change for maximumprotection. I set protection to maximum under file antivirus, mailantivirus, and Web antivirus. I turned off the default exclusion of"riskware." I checked off several boxes in the Application ActivityAnalyzer to strengthen the active protection. There were over a dozenchanges in all.
When I repeated my tests after tweaking the configuration, theresults were absolutely astounding. KIS7 started deleting my samplemalware installers the moment I opened their folder. It trundled alongslowly, popping up numerous queries and warnings and squealing like astuck pig. But my set of samples gradually dwindled away to twenty, toten, then to three. That's right. Out of my entire collection ofspyware and keylogger samples, KIS7 deleted all but three on sight,before they even had a chance to launch. In the end it scored 9.3 outof 10 against both spyware and keyloggers. Spyware Doctor scored 9.8 atblocking spyware but only 7.1 against keyloggers.
This feat demonstrates that KIS7's database of malware signatures isextensive, but is it flexible? I reran the same test using modifiedversions of all the malware installers that it initially deleted onsight. These aren't "in-the-wild" variants; they exist only on my testsystem. I created them myself by renaming the files, changingnon-executable bytes, and appending null bytes to change the file size.KIS7 handled every one of these deviants exactly as it had theiroriginals, wiping them out on sight. So yes, it's flexible, too. Butunless you crank up its protection levels seriously from theirdefaults, you won't get this powerful protection. That's a designdecision that Kaspersky ought to re-examine if it intends to sell thissuite to the masses, who are doing well to install a suite at all梱ouknow, the set-it-and-forget-it folks. You know who you are.

[ Last edited by  Mehacomp_91 at 2-10-2007 09:43 PM ]

Mehacomp_91

Firewall桺lenty Tough!
As expected, the suite's firewall successfully stealthed all ports,making the test computer effectively invisible to attack from outside.In some cases it specifically detected my Web-based tests as port scanattacks, but regardless of whether it named the attack, it successfullydefended the system.
The other half of personal firewall protection is program control,often embodied in annoying pop-ups that ask whether such-and-such aprogram should be allowed Internet access. I like the way Norton Internet Security avoids those pop-ups by making its own decisions. ZoneAlarmculls the flock of pop-ups by preconfiguring access for many thousandsof common programs. And KIS7? By default, it doesn't display anypop-ups梑ecause by default, program control is turned off! Allprograms are allowed access except those blocked by specificuser-defined rules. To get the expected level of program control, youhave to turn the firewall's program control level from Low to TrainingMode. (There's also a High setting that blocks all programs exceptthose explicitly allowed by user-defined rules; most users will findthis mode unbearable.) I'm in favor of reducing the number ofconfirmation pop-ups, but not by turning off protection!
When only authorized programs can access the Internet, the sneakiermalware will try to gain access by subverting an authorized program orpretending to be one of the authorized elite. In its defaultconfiguration, KIS7's firewall doesn't block these devious tactics. Butafter I cranked up its protection for the malware-blocking tests, itwas equally effective at detecting attempted end runs around programcontrol. Not only did it catch all the "leak tests" I tried, itidentified the sneaky trick being used, such as "Process is trying toinject into another process."
I will say this: The firewall is as tough as an MRAP armored vehicle.Malicious software attempting to shut down its protection won't getanywhere. It doesn't expose important processes to Task Manager. Itried to shut down its essential Windows Service, but that wasprotected. Its Registry settings can't be changed manually. I couldn'teven turn off protection using fake mouse clicks; it recognized them asfake and ignored them.

So-So Spam Filtering
KIS7's antispam module filters the incoming POP3 or IMAP e-mail streambefore the messages ever reach your e-mail client. It analyzes messagetext, images, and headers and assigns a spam score to each message. Forscores above a specified threshold, the message's subject gets marked[!!SPAM]; messages above a slightly lower threshold are marked[??Probably Spam]. If you use one of the supported e-mail clients(Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, or The Bat!) it can processthese two categories of mail automatically, either deleting ordiverting them to a holding folder. Otherwise, you'll have to create arule to deal with the marked messages.
By default, KIS7 first grabs the subject and sender information foreach message from the server, displaying it in the Mail Dispatcherwindow. From this window, you can mark and discard obvious spam withoutever downloading it to your computer. I suppose this do-it-yourselfspam protection might be useful for those using dial-up, but I found itpointless. Why should I do the spam filter's job? I turned the MailDispatcher off right away.
The spam filter can self-train by analyzing your outgoing mail andmessages that you mark as not spam. You can also train it manually byletting it analyze folders containing only good mail or only spam. Thetraining system puts senders of verified valid mail into a whitelist;unfortunately, it doesn't have an option to import your Address Book.It does, however, offer an unusual option to whitelist messages basedon phrases found in the message content. This phrase-based option alsoworks in the blacklist梱ou could, for example, block any messagecontaining the phrase "Paris Hilton." You can also enable a number ofother spam flags that aren't based on text analysis. For example, youcan block messages that have images but no text, messages that are overhalf non-ASCII characters, or messages with invisible text.
As instructed by the help system, I ran the training wizard on 50valid messages and 50 spam messages. I cleared the whitelist entriescreated by the training, so as to test the filter strictly on itsability to analyze message content. I also let it process about 1,600messages from a real-world spam-infested e-mail account. Thisparticular account gets a lot of newsletters; I stripped those out fortesting.
The results were dismal. Over 30 percent of the valid messages weremarked as spam, and over 30 percent of the undeniable spam made it intothe Inbox. Compare that with the hardware-based configuration-freeYoggie Pico, which marked less than 1 percent of valid mail as spam andless than 10 percent of spam as valid, even when I included hundreds ofnewsletters with the valid mail. (KIS7 dumped the majority of mynewsletters into the spam bin).

Parental Control One Point Oh
Parental control is brand-new in this version of the suite, and itsnewness shows. On the plus side, it does offer multiple configurationprofiles you can associate with specific Windows user accounts. Bydefault, all users fall under the Child profile except those explicitlyassigned to the Parent (no filtering) profile. You can also enable aTeenager profile and manually configure it for less-stringentfiltering. The help system explains in detail how to create a customprofile梑ut this feature is not actually present in the program.
KIS7 filters Internet access at the network level, so it'sbrowser-independent. A child won't have access to sites categorized asPorn, Drugs, Violence, Explicit language, Weapons, or Gambling. You canoptionally limit access to chat sites and Web-based e-mail as well. Thefilter relies both on a database of known URLs and on real-timeexamination of Web page content. Blocked pages are replaced by a starkmessage stating "The requested URL . . . is forbidden." Additionally,each attempt is logged, along with all URLs that are not blocked.
Like most parental-control systems, KIS7 lets you set limits onchildren's Internet use. You can specify a daily maximum, and you canalso define a schedule of times during which the Internet is available.Whereas most products offer a handy visual grid to schedule Internetaccess on a weekly basis, KIS7 makes you enter each time intervalmanually and uses the same schedule for every day of the week. If thetime limit expires or the scheduled "on" time ends, there's no warning.Internet access just cuts off, and any further connection attempts getthe exact same warning that's displayed when the child tries to accessa forbidden site. That's confusing; overall, the Parental Control UIneeds a lot more work, in my opinion.
Concerned about privacy? Here's a worry. When Parental Control isturned on, every URL visited by every user, regardless of that user'sprofile, is logged. You can't suppress logging for specific users orprofiles, and you can't delete individual log items without clearingthe entire log. If you value your online privacy, you'll want to clearit frequently or leave the Parental Control option turned off.
Kaspersky Internet Security 7's spam filtering and parental controlare no great shakes. On the other hand, the suite has real power in theareas most essential for security梖irewall, antivirus, and antispyware.But you won't get full protection using the default settings; youabsolutely must raise the protection level in a dozen-oddareas. So although KIS7 is a capable suite, it's not yet a particularlyconvenient one. I don't mind tweaking the settings; I get paid to dig into the guts of apps like this. But people who pay forsecurity suites may be less willing to roll up their sleeves toconfigure it. Still, it's a decent suite, and it wouldn't take much forKaspersky to fix the configuration problem. I'll be interested to seehow the next version stacks up if Kaspersky takes my recommendations toheart梐nd once it's had more time to tweak the brand-newparental-control module.
Sub-Ratings:
Antivirus:
Antispam:
Antispyware:
Firewall:
Parental/Privacy:

Mehacomp_91

                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                NortonInternet Security 2008 remains our Editors' Choice for security suites.Its virus/spyware scan scored very well on tests, and it cleans up morethoroughly than most. The firewall is tough and includes intrusionprotection. And the new Identity Safe does a great job of managingpersonal info and passwords. The antispam is a throwaway, as isparental control條uckily, many of us can do without those.
                                       
                                                                                                                               
                                                Virus/spywarescans are accurate and thorough. Top-quality, nonintrusive firewall.New Identity Safe manages personal info and passwords. Built-in helpsystem includes live chat.
                                       
                                                                                                                               
                                                Spam filter marked too many valid messages as spam. Parental control is rudimentary.

                               
                                                                        Symantec Corporation
                                                                                                        http://www.symantec.com
                                                                                               
                                                                       
                               

Type: Business, Personal, Professional
Free: No
OS Compatibility: Windows Vista, Windows XP
Tech Support: Built into product, including live chat.


.Symantec continues to polish and enhance its flagship Norton InternetSecurity suite. The 2008 edition adds full-scale password and identitymanagement, and its new BrowserDefender technology offers even strongerdefense against Web-based attacks. Borrowing a page from Norton 360'splaybook, NIS 2008 now offers a built-in, multilayered help system. Forthe multicomputer home, it now includes a network map and optionalremote monitoring of other NIS 2008 installations. Antispam andparental controls remain second-class citizens, present only if youinstall the optional Add-On Pack.

Organizationally, the main screen is little different from that of NIS2007, though it has traded its cheerful blue background for atougher-looking patterned black. You still get an overview of all thesecurity modules and a great big icon that reflects overall status. Ifit's anything but the green check mark that means fully protected, justclick Fix Now to set everything right.

Fabulous Firewall
The suite's firewall puts all ports in stealth mode, making theminvisible to hackers梩hat almost goes without saying with modernfirewalls. The NIS 2008 firewall blocked all my Web-based tests; inseveral cases it reported a port-scan attack and blocked the "attacker"for half an hour. As in previous versions of NIS, the latest firewallis armor-plated against attack by malware. I couldn't find any way todisable it programmatically (and believe me, I tried). Panda's firewallwas also pretty tough, but it gave way to my last-resort attack usingfake mouse clicks桸IS resisted even that attack. And BitDefender Total Security 2008?Well, I showed that a malicious program could turn off that suite'sprotection by disabling essential services梚t needs to get tough, likethe other two!
Symantec was an early proponent of the rising trend to putresponsibility for security decisions where it belongs梬ith thesecurity software. Like Panda's firewall, NIS 2008's never asks youwhether this or that program should be allowed access to the Internet.If the firewall recognizes known bad programs, it just removes ordisables the threats; there's no question of allowing them Internetaccess. The firewall graciously allows known good programs to connectat will. Using its SONAR (Symantec Online Network for AdvancedResponse) technology, NIS 2008 watches unknown programs for signs ofmalicious behavior, and as long as they play nice it lets them accessthe Net.
I usually run a set of "leak test" utilities to check whether thefirewall can handle malware that tries to evade normal program control.In the past, NIS hasn't detected these because they have no maliciouspayload梬hich is completely reasonable. This version, however, didblock all but two of a dozen samples, identifying them with genericnames such as "Trojan Horse," "Hack Tool," and "Downloader." Thisprobably doesn't make users any more secure, but it gives us securitytesters a warm, fuzzy feeling.
For this review I added a new tool to my testing arsenal: CoreImpact. Among many other features, this penetration tool automaticallygenerates exploits to probe a system's defenses. Working across thevirtual network I unleashed over a dozen client-side exploits on theNIS-protected system. This type of exploit gets into your system whenyou click a link in an e-mail message or visit a hacked (ordeliberately malicious) Web site. In addition to a number of InternetExplorer exploits, I managed to unleash one aimed at Firefox and somethat go straight for Windows itself through various vulnerabilities. Afew failed simply because the test system's browser and operatingsystem were fully updated. NIS's Intrusion Prevention System recognizedand blocked all but one of those that got past that initial hurdle. Theone that wasn't recognized still couldn't actually do anything harmfulbecause it was stopped by Norton's suite. Going forward, I'll bechallenging other security suites and firewalls in the same way.

New Network Map
A single NIS 2008 purchase includes three licenses for the modernmulticomputer home. New in this version, the Network Map identifies allthe computers and other devices that it can "see" in the network andflags those that have NIS 2008 installed. By going through a fairlyelaborate "discovery" procedure, you can configure the suite to allowthe NIS 2008 systems to remotely monitor each other. The onlyinformation you get is the main status icon, though. I wish it wouldoffer a little more detail. Whether it's a big problem, such as nofirewall active, or a small problem, like Windows Updates not set toautomatic, all you see is a simple red X icon. In any case, there's nooption to remotely fix the problem.
The network map does have a few other tricks. By default, othercomputers on your local network are assigned the Default "trust level,"which means file and printer sharing is allowed but other networktraffic will be limited by the firewall. Change the trust level toRestricted and you block all access to your PC from the specifieddevice. You can also choose Full Trust, which allows all networktraffic except for known attacks and infections. However, Symantecadvises against using this mode unless the default mode causesconnection problems.
NIS 2008 can distinguish wired from wireless networking, and it cantell when your wireless network has encryption enabled. If you're sodevil-may-care as to omit encryption, the suite warns you that yournetwork isn't secure. It doesn't, however, report new computers on thenetwork as possible intruders, as Panda Internet Security 2008does. And on my wired/wireless office network it never did detect thatmy wireless notebook had joined the network. I do like the network map,but I think it has some growing to do
.

Mehacomp_91

Thorough Malware Cleaning
While the 2008 edition hasn't been through independent lab testing yet,Norton AntiVirus 2007 got top marks from all the labs. Both ICSA Labsand West Coast Labs certified it for virus detection and cleaning; WestCoast Labs also gave it Checkmark certification for detecting spywareand Trojan horses. And you have to go back to 1999 to find any occasionwhen a Symantec product did not receive the VB100% award fromVirus Bulletin. In addition, a very recent test by AV-Comparativesrated Symantec's technology Advanced+, the highest rating.
The combined antivirus/antispyware scans files on access, on demand,and on schedule. You can set up a full or custom scan at daily, weekly,or monthly intervals, or configure scans to run at start-up, at log-on,or when the system is idle. The suite scans incoming and outgoinge-mail for malware and also watches outbound e-mail traffic for signsthat a worm is sending e-mail using your computer. NIS 2008 scans filesreceived through popular IM programs (Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, and Trillian)as well. It also finds known malicious programs by matching theirsignatures and catches unknown ones using its SONAR behavior-basedtracking. In addition, the suite specifically looks for keylogger androotkit activity.
By default, NIS 2008 runs a preinstall scan during the installationprocess, and you'll definitely want to accept that default. When Iinstalled it on my infested test systems, the pre-install scan detectedand at least partially disabled almost three-quarters of the malwaresamples, including adware, spyware, Trojans, rootkits, and rogueantispyware programs. After a full scan almost every single one of thesamples was gone桸IS 2008 scored 9.3 out of a possible 10 points. Inthe same test Spy Sweeper and Spyware Doctor scored 9.0 and 9.1, respectively; BitDefender rated 8.6 points
Panda Internet Security 2008 recently aced this test, scoring 10 outof 10, but there's an interesting distinction to be made. In most casesPanda wiped out only the essential executable files, leaving behinddozens of data files and Registry items. NIS, on the other hand, wipedout every single trace of about two-thirds of the samples and cleanedup the rest more thoroughly than most products. My Panda contact notedthat without the malware executables, the other traces are harmless.That may be true, but surely it's better to avoid clogging the Registryand file system with useless junk. I did find, however, that a fullscan on my standard clean test system took nearly an hour with NIS2008, almost twice as long as that of NIS 2007. I guess that thoroughcleaning takes a bit of extra time. It's worth the wait, in my opinion.
I always run a separate test using commercial keyloggers in place ofmalware. I don't give this test as much weight, since a typicalcommercial keylogger has to be installed by someone who has physicalaccess to your computer. But NIS 2008 deserves credit for wiping outevery single one of the samples in this test for a perfect 10 of 10.(Panda bombed with 2.1 points in this same test. BitDefender didbetter, scoring 7.1.)
One of my test systems frequently goes into a blue-screen deathspiral when security software does an incomplete cleanup job. NIS 2008had no trouble with that one. I like the fact that Norton's new suitecleans up high-risk items the moment it finds them, rather than askingthe user. It asks your permission only when the item is seriouslylow-risk. A malware sample on another system tries to protect itselffrom security software by interfering with the Windows Installer. NIS2007 installed despite this chicanery, but NIS 2008 hit a wall, whichwas a bit disappointing. Still, on Symantec's advice I ran a Web-basedscan and then booted into Safe Mode to delete the files identified bythe scan. After that I was able to install the product and complete thecleanup process.
As usual, I attempted to install all the same threats on a cleansystem protected by NIS 2008. The moment I opened the folderscontaining the samples, though, NIS started eliminating them. Within aminute or two it had wiped out all but a handful of the malware samplesand all but one of the commercial keyloggers. I tried again usingsamples that I had modified myself. Even though I renamed them, tweakedsome nonexecutable bytes, and changed their file size, it wiped themout just the same. Of the handful of remaining threats, most got caughtearly in the install process. Overall NIS 2008 scored 9 of 10 pointsagainst the malware samples and blocked every single commercialkeylogger for another perfect 10. Spy Sweeper rated 8.1 at blockingmalware installation, while Spyware Doctor racked up 9.8 points. Pandascored 10 against the malware samples, but was much less effective atblocking commercial keyloggers梥coring a mere 3.6. And BitDefender lagsthe pack slightly, with 8.8 points against malware and 4.3 againstkeyloggers.

Keep Your Identity Safe
This version introduces Identity Safe, which replaces and totallysurpasses the old Privacy Control module. (Privacy Control is stillpresent in the Add-On Pack, but it's obsolete). Identity Safe can storeone or more password-protected "cards" containing personal data,contact information, and a default credit card. When you connect to anon-fraudulent Web site, you can fill in the appropriate form fieldsjust by invoking the card. You can also use Identity Safe aspassword-protected storage for important private information thatdoesn't fit the identity-card model.
Identity Safe also manages username and password information for Web-site log-ins much the way Roboform (PC Magazine'sfavorite password manager) does. When you log in to a site for thefirst time, it offers to remember the credentials you used, with anoption to never ask again for this particular site. If you choose thisoption, the next time you visit the same site, Identity Safeautomatically fills in the username and password fields梐ll you need todo is click the button to submit your credentials.
Of course, Identity Safe doesn't know who's sitting at the computer. Itwill supply those credentials just as nicely to your shopping-madteenager. To plug that security hole, the log-in data is passwordprotected. Identity Safe will always ask for the password the firsttime it takes action during a given browser session, and you canconfigure it to ask again if the PC has been inactive for 15, 30, or 45minutes. For total security, set it to require the master password atevery automatic log-in. Of course, you can manually log out if you stepaway from the computer, too.
If you change your password for a particular site (it's a good ideato change passwords once in a while), you can edit the log-in toreflect that change, or configure a specific log-in to always requirethe master password. And the Manage Log-Ins dialog rates your passwordsas Strong, Medium, or Poor. RoboForm doesn't do that, but it doesinclude an option to generate a strong password based on user-definedrules桰'd like to see a similar password generator in Identity Safe.Another feature not found in RoboForm is the use of site-specific iconsknown as favicons (the icons that appear next to the URL in yourbrowser's Address Bar), when available. I did notice that if IdentitySafe failed to pick up the icon on the first try (which it did,frequently) there's no way to make it try again.
Like Roboform, Identity Safe lets you use your saved log-ins as"smart favorites." When you select one from the pull-down menu, itnavigates to the specified site and logs in right away. I love thatfeature! Norton isn't quite as flexible as Roboform, though. You can'torganize your log-ins into folders, and it won't handle some types oflog-ins, such as those where the username and password are bothdisplayed as dots. Still, NIS 2008 has a very effective passwordmanager.
Symantec points out that using Identity Safe balks evenhardware-based keyloggers梩he keys you don't type can't be logged. Andthe product's built-in phishing protection ensures that you won't begiving that information to a fraudulent site. Since its introduction,NIS's phishing protection has been the one to beat. When I test otherproducts, I compare their protection with what's offered by NIS, byInternet Explorer 7, and by Firefox 2. I use current phishing sitesculled from real-world e-mail and from phish-tracking wWeb sites,discarding any that vanish before I can test using all the products andany that aren't flagged as fraudulent by any product. In my latest testNIS blocked 94 percent of the phishing sites, IE blocked 83 percent ,and Firefox blocked 77 percent . Unlike many such products, NIS isactually better than the phishing filter built into thebrowsers. And NIS's antiphishing now integrates with Firefox as well asIE. BitDefender, by comparison, scored 40 percent ; Panda tanked at 0percent.
The antiphishing toolbar used to be a bit overwhelming梐 huge greenor red bar across almost the whole width of the browser. In thisversion, Norton's antiphishing is just as effective but not nearly aslarge. It indicates whether the current site is a known phishing site,a suspected fraud, or a valid site. For a few hundred significantfinancial sites, Symantec goes a step further and displays a "NortonAuthenticated" banner and logo. You can feel extra-confidentauto-filling forms at a site that has this logo.

Mehacomp_91

The Awful Add-Ons
While the suite as a whole has been streamlined and improved, theoptional add-on pack seems to have been gathering dust on a shelfsomewhere. I couldn't find any visible change in the antispam, parentalcontrol, and privacy control features since NIS 2007
As mentioned above, the new Identity Safe renders privacy controlobsolete. Parental control is just category-based Web filtering, withan option to specify exceptions. BitDefender's parental-control systemties settings to Windows user accounts, and Panda's lets you defineseparate accounts, but Norton's filtering applies to all user accounts.There's no option to have it on for the kids but off for Mom and Dad.And there are no advanced features like time-scheduling (included inBitDefender's parental control), notification alerts, or remotemanagement. Fortunately, not everyone needs parental control. If youdo, get a real parental-control product such as Safe Eyes.I gave NIS 2008 four stars in the Privacy/Parental category梬hollybased on the excellent Identity Safe, not on its parental control.
The antispam module integrates nicely with Outlook and OutlookExpress. It's smart enough to import your address book into itswhitelist, so messages from your existing correspondents will never beblocked. It can also automatically whitelist any address to which yousend mail and whitelist the sender when you mark a message as not spam.And believe me, you'll need a fully populated whitelist to protect yourvalid mail from the spam filter's depredations. Panda erred in theopposite direction, blocking hardly any valid mail but letting morethan half the undeniable spam into the Inbox. BitDefender hit the sweetspot梚t blocked no valid mail from individuals, blocked almost newnewsletters, and diverted 80 percent of the spam into its Spam folder.
When I tested NIS's spam filter with several thousand real-worldmessages, its performance was significantly worse than last year's.After it processed all the mail, I manually separated the Inboxmessages into undeniable valid mail, undeniable spam, newsletters(valid but not personal), and "other." I keep the newsletters separatebecause some products (including this one) have trouble distinguishingthem from spam. NIS 2008 marked over 40 percent of the valid messagesas spam梩hat's terrible! Even if I omitted valid personal messages fromorganizations and counted only those from individuals, the suite stillmismarked 25 percent. And newsletters? Over 80 percent of those weremarked as spam! It did manage to filter out about 90 percent of theundeniable spam, but so what?梩hat just means you'll have a harder timefinding the important messages it threw out.

HELP!
In the past, Symantec has gotten a lot of grief about its tech support. PC Magazine readersfrequently write me with gripes about waiting for hours, getting badadvice, or giving up on technicians due to language problems. NIS2008's One-Click Support (originally introduced with Norton 360) aimsto turn this perception around.
To start a support session, you invoke the built-in AutoFix feature. Insome cases AutoFix will identify a problem and either fix it or directyou to the appropriate instructions. But if it doesn't you can get helpvia e-mail, telephone, or live chat. A handy screen shows the expectedwait for each type of help. The live chat feature includes an option tolet the Symantec analyst take charge and remote-control your computerto identify and fix the problem. And all of this happens within the NIS2008 user interface. I put the system to the test and it worked fine.Of course, if you can't get on the Internet or your system is locked ina reboot death spiral, you'll still have to use direct phone support.Whether there's been any improvement in phone support remains to beseen. When I checked during testing, Symantec was estimating 12 minuteshold time for phone support, versus 2 minutes for live chat.
Norton Internet Security 2008 remains PC Magazine's Editors'Choice security suite. The unobtrusive firewall is tough as nails, andit actively identifies and blocks exploits and other intrusions. NIS2008 did a super job of cleaning up malware in testing, and its cleanupis significantly more thorough than most. The new Identity Safe managesyour passwords and personal information effectively. And if you have aproblem, help is built right in. Now if Symantec would do somethingabout the embarrassingly antiquated spam-filtering and parental-controlmodules

fly_in_d_sky

ape komen cik meha selepas membuat review terhadap software2 anti virus nie?
ape yg cik meha rekomen kan kepada pengguna?

Mehacomp_91

tak tahula sebab semua nya bawak ada bawak masalah je

sebab dalam semua suite yang ada kat sini semua ada masalah dengan firewall kecuali symantec tapi meha sekarang guna panda antivirus plus firewall ok gak macam2 virus yang kasper tak detect dia jumpa sebab dia pakai teknologi totalscan selama meha try avg internet security banyak betul threat dalam komp ni

Mehacomp_91

ni definasi totalscan pro ni


Panda Security launches TotalScan Pro

- TotalScan Pro can detect and eliminate threats missed by antivirus programs installed on systems. A study by Panda Security revealed that more than 18% of computers are infected by malware, even if they have an antivirus

- TotalScan Pro is the ideal tool to use as a second opinion and check periodically if there are viruses on a system

MADRID, September 13, 2007- Panda Security has launched TotalScan Pro, a new online antivirus that detects and disinfects more than 1,800,000 strains of known malware (viruses, spyware, Trojans, rootkits) and is continually updated against new threats, with more than 2,500 new examples every day. It also detects unknown threats thanks to TruPreventTM intelligent technologies.

The enormous detection capacity of Panda TotalScan Pro means it can even detect and eliminate threats that can slip past antiviruses on computers. According to a study carried out by Panda Security at http://www.infectedornot.com, more than 18% of computers with an antivirus are infected by some kind of threat.
TotalScan Pro is an excellent tool to use as a second opinion, periodically checking if there are viruses on a system. This new antivirus from Panda Security is compatible with any other security products that users have on computers. Similarly, it is an ideal tool to use before shopping or banking online. Thanks to the scan carried out by TotalScan Pro, users can make sure that there are no keylogger Trojans on their computers, or any other active threats waiting to steal confidential data.

TotalScan Pro scans all system devices, hard disks, compressed files and all email, rapidly seeking out all threats hidden on users

Mehacomp_91

Panda AV + Firewall antiphising panda ni invisible,walaupun takseberapa tapi bila dah update kuat la ia,firewall panda ni best ladia  tak banyak tanya sebab dia managekan sendiri best dan ini hanyasesuai untuk basic user kalau  advance user Panda Internet  Security file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/HOME/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg

[ Last edited by  Mehacomp_91 at 4-10-2007 02:38 PM ]

Gemukkkkkkk

tanya sikit.

ikut pendapat korang,

1) free personal firewall mana paling berkesan?  aku pernah pakai comodo (outbound protection kuat) dan za (menyampah) tapi leceh le.

2) anti-malware/spyware paling best?  aku pakai ad-aware dan spybot tapi orang kata dah tak best.  betul ke?